Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar defends gold in Greece meet, Jeswin Aldrin takes silver

The National Record holder failed to break past the 8.00m mark.

Three-time long jump national champion and Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medalist Murali Sreeshankar won gold at the 13th International Jumping Meeting Filahtlitikos on Wednesday. His best effort was a jump 8.18m long. Murali Sreeshankar was the defending champion heading into the tournament as he won the event in Greece in 2022 through an attempt (8.31m) that stands at the second position on the list of his longest jumps ever.

Fellow Indian long jumper Jeswin Aldrin finished second with his longest jump scaling 7.85m. The two athletes continued their good run of form in the season with great displays in Greece. However, the 21-year-old reigning National Record holder wouldn't be happy with his best effort of 7.85m after having set the National Records in the long jump event for indoor and outdoor categories in the 2023 season.

Jeswin's sensational effort in the India Open Jumps Competition in March saw him raise the National Record to 8.42m. And his 7.97m long jump at the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships is the current National Record for long jump in indoor events.

Both jumpers consistent in their attempts

Murali Sreeshankar started the event with a 7.94m long effort, his only sub-8m effort on the day. The 24-year-old followed the first attempt with 8.17m, 8.11m, 8.04m, 8.01m, and 8.18m efforts. Three of his attempts are good enough to be on the list of the ten longest jumps so far in the career of the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme athlete.

Jeswin Aldrin, as discussed earlier, couldn't bring his A-game on the field in Greece. The youngster failed to break past the 7.85m mark and saw all his jumps land around that mark. His efforts were 7.81m, 7.85m, 7.74m, 7.74m, and 7.78m. With the second jump of the series, the Tamil Nadu-based athlete bettered his fifth-position finish of 2022 with a silver medal finish in 2023 at the Kallithea Municipal Stadium in Kallithea, Greece.